Archive for the 'Pennywise' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Halloween Masquerade: In addition to the month’s array of haunted houses and fright-filled mazes, there are always some themed shows that really share nothing in common with All Hallow’s Eve other than calendar proximity.

Not that those gigs can’t also be good. Case in point: Miley Cyrus’ favorite twerking target, Robin Thicke, will make his first major L.A. appearance since launching his Blurred Lines juggernaut over summer as part of this event from 97.1 AMP Radio, Oct. 26 at the Hollywood Palladium.

Andrew Bird: Longtime fans aware of his Gezelligheid shows in Chicago and NYC over the past few winters have reason to rejoice: the acclaimed songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is finally bringing the concept to L.A. with two shows, Dec. 19-20, at the Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Boulevard.

The seven bands that graced the main stage Saturday at the fifth annual Epicenter festival at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine could be split near the center of that divide between now-classic mainstays of ’90s modern rock and contemporary KROQ performers – music from your youth and music for the kids.

As on stage, where local legends the Offspring, Bad Religion and Pennywise shared space with current stars A Day to Remember, Pierce the Veil and All Time Low, the fans in attendance were split by age brackets, with a pretty even mix of young, enthusiastic supporters and a large contingent of aging punks and other Gen-X alt-rock junkies reliving memories.

Both ages in the crowd were attentive, exuberant and ready to spend money on an array of merchandise, concessions and booze. The latter of those was easier to find than bathrooms, thanks to numerous bars seemingly put in special for the event.

Granted, this is still a far cry from the bigger Epicenters of years past, particularly the founding ones in Pomona and Fontana, both noted less for their performances than for the brutal heat. While Saturday’s afternoon weather was warm, the Irvine breeze quickly settled in and made for a comfortable atmosphere for watching live music.

For local musician and businessman Vijay Kumar, everything he’s ever done always comes back to the guitar.Click on photo to see more images.

The 32-year-old Illinois native, above, picked up the instrument at a young age, and after moving to Orange County 14 years ago he joined several local bands, most notably swapping six strings for four to serve as bassist for Huntington Beach hardcore outfit Bleeding Through on its first two records.

Kumar left that group in 2003, instead earning a degree in classical guitar at Cal State Fullerton and then giving lessons. The experience, he says, put him in touch with the instrument like never before – and soon he became interested in designing his own line.

A few years later he started Artist Series Guitars (ASG), which has since created limited-edition and custom-designed axes for artists such as metal bands Asking Alexandria and Demon Hunter, local favorites Reel Big Fish and Death by Stereo, and punk mainstays Pennywise and Adolescents.

Jack Johnson: He’s been hailed for his set at Bonnaroo last weekend, thrown together with a day’s rehearsal to fill in for Mumford & Sons, who had to cancel their headlining appearance while bassist Ted Dwane recovers from emergency surgery that removed a blood clot from his brain.

That appearance, a favor for festival organizers, was a little ahead of schedule for the most laid-back guy in rock: His next album, From Here to Now to You, isn’t due until Sept. 17, with a tour starting in Europe just before it drops.

Johnson will play smaller venues to start, with the Hawaiian’s nearest run set for Oct. 18 at San Diego’s Balboa Theatre, Oct. 19 at L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre and Oct. 20 at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theatre. Prices are $69.90 except in S.D., where it’s $2 less. Bahamas, the nom de disc of noted Canadian singer-songwriter Alfie Jurvanen, opens all shows.

Tickets are available exclusively through a lottery at his official website, a means of hopefully ensuring a fair shot at securing seats that thousands will want. Deadline to enter is June 24. Winners will be selected after that and contacted by email with purchase instructions. It appears the actual on-sale date is June 26.

Post-Coachella: It’s a well-established tradition that the morning after the festival ends, big shows from some of its top players get announced. Frankly, I’m surprised to not see certain ones so far – a full-blown West Coast Postal Service tour seems imminent.

UPDATE: And the next morning it was revealed: The Postal Service will play July 23-24 at the Greek Theatre, plus July 20 at Santa Barbara Bowl and July 21 at San Diego State's Open Air Theatre. All shows go on sale this weeekend. More details soon.

But there are at least two acts headed to the Hollywood Bowl, where Vampire Weekend appears Sept. 28 (that oughta be terrific) and the xx turns up Sept. 29 (that oughta be mesmerizing). Zach Condon’s group Beirut joins the former bill, while Oregonian electro outfit Chromatics should be a perfect complement to their English counterparts on the latter night.

As the house lights dimmed Friday night, screens onstage managed to pull the capacity crowd away from beer lines and onto the floor. Across each of three monitors the circular PW logo flashed along with the date stamp: 1988-2013. While all the talk lately has been about vocalist Jim Lindberg reuniting with Pennywise, the first few minutes of the band’s 25th anniversary at the Hollywood Palladium, the first of two sold-out shows at the venue, gave fans new insight into the quartet. In those first few minutes, the night went from hype to historic.

The piano intro to the title track from the band’s 1993 disc Unknown Road blared through the PA, and the swelling energy shifted to a different kind of admiration that swept over the room. A montage provided an abbreviated look at a band that has spent its adult life on tour buses and in airport terminals. Juxtaposed with footage of a long-haired Fletcher Dragge, a baby-faced Byron McMackin, bassist Randy Bradbury and Lindberg, the unifying theme was undoubtedly the stage.

For a quarter-century these Hermosa Beach punks have earned every bit of adulation that this comeback show afforded. Finally, it was show time again.

The first 15 minutes of the band’s set served as lighter fluid for an already charged circle pit. Obviously nothing from the band’s All or Nothing record with replacement frontman Zoli Teglas (of Ignite) made the cut, a move that seemed just fine with this congregation, as Pennywise skipped the foreplay and tore through anthems like "Can’t Believe It" and "Homesick" right off the bat.

Relationships can be difficult. Being in a band is no different. And so it is that locally beloved Hermosa Beach punk quartet Pennywise had to take a few giant leaps backward, indulge in some serious reflection, as well as sessions of honest and at times painful communication, and swallow a lot of pride. That’s what it took to bring these four strong personalities back to the stage after nearly four acrimonious years apart.

It was just before Halloween when Pennywise dropped by KROQ’s Kevin & Bean morning show to excitedly share that vocalist Jim Lindberg had returned and that the quartet would celebrate its reunion - and its 25th anniversary – with two shows (tonight and Saturday) at the Hollywood Palladium.

When Lindberg announced his departure in August 2009, the split seemed amicable despite rumblings in the punk community of a nasty blowout. It certainly wasn’t because the singer, now 47, was thinking of retiring. He quickly contributed to The Other F Word, a documentary based on his 2007 book Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life, and formed another band, the Black Pacific, whose self-titled debut arrived in September 2010.

The rest of Pennywise – guitarist Fletcher Dragge, bassist Randy Bradbury and drummer Byron McMackin – carried on business as usual, picking up a new frontman, Zoli Teglas of O.C. punk outfit Ignite. The band continued to tour extensively, releasing its 10th studio set, All or Nothing, on Epitaph Records last May.

But as you can see, there's already a flier circulating online announcing the sixth annual Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, slated for March 8-10 at its regular location, the OC Fair & Event Center.

Unlike in past years, when music attractions have been divided between old-school stalwarts and metal upstarts, this time it's virtually wall-to-wall punk.

In case you have trouble reading: Bad Religion, whose 16th album True North drops Jan. 22, tops the bill for opening night, with support from the Vandals and Guttermouth. The reunited Pennywise will follow up two sold-out Hollywood Palladium shows this month with an appearance at Musink's second night, along with Lagwagon and T.S.O.L. And psychobilly standout Reverend Horton Heat will close out the event, with warm-up sets from Lucero, the Headcat (featuring Lemmy from Motorhead) and Social Distortion guitarist Jonny Two Bags.

Among this year's featured tattoo artists will be Jack Rudy, Robert Atkinson, Small Paul, Tomas Garcia, Roman Abrigo, Bob Tyrrell, Robert Hernandez, Franco Vescovi and dozens more.

Three years after parting ways, veteran Hermosa Beach punk band Pennywise has mended fences with original vocalist Jim Lindberg, who split in 2009 claiming that "my time in (the band) has come to an end."

Lindberg and guitarist Fletcher Dragge appeared Monday morning on KROQ's Kevin & Bean Show to reveal the news, as well as announce the band's first reunion performance, Jan. 18 at the Hollywood Palladium, commemorating the group's 25th anniversary.

Lagwagon, Strung Out and Pulley will open. Tickets, $19.99, go on sale Friday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m., though KROQ Street Team members get first crack on Halloween from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Demand to see the Black Keys live continues to soar. The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney -- finally a Grammy-winning, chart-impacting force after seven studio albums and a decade of shows -- already have a string of October dates in Southern California as part of their first headlining arena tour.

And now they've added one more: Oct. 6, the group's second night at Staples Center, following Oct. 5. Tickets for the new gig, $39.50-$59.50, go on sale Friday, July 20, at 10 a.m. Just a reminder that the Black Keys also play Oct. 2 at Santa Barbara Bowl, Oct. 4 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego and Oct. 8 at Honda Center in Anaheim. Opening act throughout the run: Tegan and Sara.

This just in: The date of Nicki Minaj's Nokia Theatre show has just been moved, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 8, due to "an unavoidable scheduling conflict." The location stays the same. All tickets for the earlier date will be honored. If necessary, refunds are available at point of purchase.

Missing out on the xx's show next week at the Fonda? Be patient. The English duo, whose eagerly awaited second album Coexist drops Sept. 10, is coming back before very long, and at a much more atmospheric location: Oct. 13 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Tickets, $38.50 and limited to two per person and per household, go on sale Friday at noon via Ticketfly. (Also look for the group Oct. 12 at the Hollywood Palladium, also $38.50, on sale Friday at 10 a.m.)